Pool drains with enlarged or elongated channel sumps are popular in view of their compliance with the Virginia Graham Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act (“VGB Act”), requiring swimming pool and spa drains to prevent body parts from covering the entire drain intake and becoming entrapped. Anti-entrapment channel drains generally comply with the VGB Act by providing multiple intake ports or being of a sufficient length that they cannot be simultaneously blocked. For example, if one drain port or a portion of a drain port is blocked, the other drain intake ports allow water to continue flowing into the drain, ensuring a low pressure differential at the intake. One example of such a drain is embodied in Applicant's U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0157510, which discloses a channel drain having a water stop for embedding in the surface of a pool.
Pool drains having drain intakes separated from a central hub are also known in the art. These drains are typically installed in the plaster surface of a pool with the water transit between the drain intake and the central hub embedded in the plaster surface. While more aesthetically pleasing than a drain having an intake and filter connection at the same location, these drains are typically limited to a circular design. One example of such a drain is embodied in Applicant's U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0250581, which discloses a circular drain intake separate from and encircling a central drain hub. In addition to the limited design appearance of these drains, a problem persists in that if the drain intake is not equidistant from the central hub, a pressure differential is created at portions of the intake closer to the hub. For this reason, these drains remain limited to their circular shape.
Thus there is a need for a pool drain that provides a large or lengthy intake, and wherein the drain intake is separated from a central hub. There is also a need for such a drain that can be produced in an aesthetic shape other than circular, but which maintains an even pressure differential across all drain intakes regardless of distance from the central hub. A drain accomplishing these and other objects is disclosed in the following summary, description and claims.